A Work in Progress
by GhettoGorgeousGangstaGirl
Summary: Almost a full year after the Arkham City fiasco the Asylum has been rebuilt and though the whole mess is still fresh in everyone mind things are slowly returning to normal .Two aspiring art students find themselves tumbling head first into the world of the Gotham rogues. Part of a series hopefully. Will slowly expand on this world with other stories later. Two-Face in the makin


(Ch1)

Jessica sat in the Cafe in the basement of the main building on her campus. They didn't have the luxury of having chain restaurants and fast food on their campus like some of the bigger campuses since the Gotham College of Arts and Design campus was maybe 12 buildings at most. Because of this they had to come up with other ways to get food on campus since students didn't always have time to get food off campus before class. Thus the cafe in the basement. The food wasn't always great but as long as you knew what to order and who could make it right there wasn't too disappointing. The only real fault she ever had with the cafe was how cold it was in the basement. Although that was mostly her fault, if she would think ahead and put on some leggings under her sundresses from times to time. They weren't going to change the temperature in the basement, that's where the animation students work it has to stay cool so the computers don't over heat, therefor it's up to her to keep her legs warm. Eh. Maybe tomorrow.

She only had about fifteen more minutes to get and finish her sandwich, and since there was no one down there with her it shouldn't take that long to get her food. Her only critique of the day was done, it hadn't been bad but it could have gone better. On the upside though it had finished about half an hour early before the teacher planned so she gave them the time to take a break before she told them about their next assignment. Since Jessica hadn't had breakfast yet today she was taking the time to get some food in her before she starved.

So far her semester was going smoothly, one week in and her first critique had gone off without a hitch and she had yet to have an altercation with anyone in class. Still, she was already excited for the semester to be done with so she could get out of her foundation classes and into the real Illustration work. Once she'd gotten her sandwich Jessica decided to go back to her Drawing II class and eat it there, she always felt awkward being the only one in the Cafe. It would seem that she wasn't the only one with that idea as a few of her classmates were already sitting there with food of their own.

A few minutes later the teacher returned with her own muffin and a cup of coffee. By this time most of the class had returned but she gave them a few more minutes to let the rest of them file in before she started talking. "Alright. Last-what was it?- Monday? I told you to start thinking about a subject. Not for your next assignment but for the other one." Last week she'd told them that along side their normal assignments they would have having what is basically a semester long assignment. Jessica had already choose the Gotham City Rogues as her subject. "How many of you have a subject in mind?" Jessica and about three or four other students raised their hands. "Alright, that's fine. You still have time. Starting this week I want you to start applying it. By the end of the semester I want twenty five images from each of you based on this subject." From there she started explaining the project in more detail but Jessica was only really half listening to it. She was already trying to figure out what she was going to do for twenty five images based on the Gotham Rogues. Then the weeks assignment was simple enough. It was just a drapery study. The teacher was going to bring in an old dress she made a few years back and they were going to pretty much do a still life of it, medium, colors, and composition are up to them. It was basically just to figure out how well they know folds and drapery, something they would be getting to know better in Life Drawing three and four.

Jessica's only had two other classes that day a biweekly Life Drawing, meaning it met twice a week for three hours a day, and an Art History class that met once a week, also for three hours. It made for a long full Monday but that also meant that on Wednesday she had a three hour break between her two art classes, and she did like that a lot. That break plus only having one hour and a half long Biology class on Thursday gave her quite a bit of free time even before the weekend, though she paid for it with a six hour long Mastering the Pencil class on Tuesday, her first non foundations and she loved it. Still six hours of sitting in class room could numb the brain very quickly.

After Life Drawing Jessica packed up all of her stuff, stowed her 18 x 24 sketch pad and Masonite board away in a corner of the classroom so she wouldn't have to drag it around, and went home. Her car wasn't a good one, an old Saturn that used to belong to her brother before he went off to live in Central City. He didn't take very good care of it when he had it and while she tried to treat it a little better it was still a crap car. But it was her crap car and it took her where she needed to go, so there was that.

She rented a small two bedroom apartment that she shared with her roommate Sarah who she found sitting on the floor surrounded by photos. "What are you doing?" Jessica asked, knowing she wasn't at all going to understand the answer.

"Trying to figure out how I'm going to cut the canvas." Sarah responded thoughtfully. "I can easily get three paintings out of it... I just have to figure out how."

Sarah also attends GCAD but that is where they're similarities end. Sarah is majoring in the Fine Arts with an emphasis in painting while Jessica is majoring in Illustration. In hind sight this may not have been a good idea. Throughout their school there is a mild hostility between Fine Artists and Illustrators. The Fine Artists view Illustrators as sellouts and posers, people who allow other people to direct their art rather then expressing themselves as artists are supposed to. The Illustration majors largely view Fine Artists as full of shit who will attach any bullshit philosophical reason to any minimal effort nonsense they happen to put on a canvas to make it appear as if it had value. Sarah and Jessica have managed to live in harmony. In fact over the past two semesters they've even come to think of themselves as best friends. Although they still argue over artistic differences.

Sarah's work outside of school looks to Jessica like little more the paint splotches. Sarah rents a studio space on the lower levels of their apartment building. Being near an art school the apartment building they lived in decided to capitalize on their abundance of artistic residence by turning the old Gym that no one used any more into art studios that they will rent to the tenets. Her studio is one of the particularly messy ones due to her process in which she buys enough canvas to cover the walls, she then proceeds to pull out various paint cans and from there uses her hands, sponges, old rags and shirts, and even her own body to get the paint on the canvas in any way she sees fit. Where as Jessica preferred nicely rendered images done usually in chalk pastel, Ink, or pencil. Sometimes she would pick up a brush and some Acrylics to paint with but that was usually just for school. Paint required either an impressive amount of patients and control or a total lack of 'give a shit', Jessica has none of these things.

Their art isn't the only way the girls differ, they're personalities are almost polar opposites. Jessica being kind of soft spoken, though not shy, and nicer then most. While Sarah was much louder, most would even call her obnoxious, she has no qualms with speaking her mind and comes off a rude most of the time. Though, thanks to her proper upbringing among the Gotham Elite, she knows how to create the Illusion of being a proper lady when she really needs to.

Looks and style is another department where the two differ greatly. Jessica stands her tallest at 5'3" with long brown hair, hazel eyes and often runs around in sun dresses and her platform wedge heels that make her look a few inches taller, she has a bit of belly but it is of proportionate size to her bust and hips she she doesn't worry about it too much though she makes a small effort to keep it in check. Where as Sarah standing at 5'7" and thin as a rail except for her very wide hips that give her a crazy pear shape that she hides under paint stained over sized T-shirts and sweat pants. Once upon and time she had long black hair but, much to her parents dismay, the moment she got to college she happily traded it all in for a pixie cut so she didn't have to worry about getting paint in it anymore.

The thing that makes it possible for the two of the to live together with such minimal conflict is how laid back the two of them are. Jessica through sheer non-want of conflict and over all laziness and Sarah with how little effort she was willing to put into a conflict. The whole set up worked perfectly for both of them.

"So how was class?" Sarah asked, after moving a few more pictures around. "Anything new and exciting?"

"Cass finally told us what that semester long assignment is." Jessica muttered throwing her bag onto the couch before falling down herself. "She wants us to do 25 images based on the subject we chose."

"The rogues?" Sarah picked up one of the pictures and held it up to the light, tilting it this way at that.

Jessica nodded. "One picture is one thing. But 25. I don't know what to do and since that craziness with the Joker and Arkham City the all those super villains are going to be on everyone's mind. I don't want to do the same project as half the class."

"Do something different." Sarah dropped the picture and sighed. "I mean, not change your idea, do something no one else is doing. That's how you get noticed in the art world anyway..." She rolled her eyes was she noticed the look her roommate was giving her. "My art world, you Illustrator." She clarified. "Although it wouldn't hurt you either. Different is usually worth more." Having imparted this little peace of wisdom Sarah gathered up her pictures, giving up for now.

Jessica watched her stack the photos in no particular pile as an idea slowly began to form. Do something different. She could do that... Maybe, but she'd worry about it later. For now she had thumbnails to do and a section to read for art history. On Thursday she would be making a few calls.

(Alright. Finally got up the first chapter for this story. As usual I have no idea what I'm going to end up doing with this. So I will probably be asking for you're input way later on. Now I know some of you have indeed requested that Two-Face story. I'm working on it. I am slowly getting there. So it will happen eventually I promise.)


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